Goats...and insulin

THIS is the infamous goat. I was obviously not in a position to take a photo of the whole tug of war incident, but you can get an idea of the goat's character just by this shot. Shifty eyes.

Some days my pump tubing seems to have a mind of its own. Seriously, I demurely tuck the plastic coils into my pocket or beneath my clothing, but before I know it the tubing has sprung away to meet a doorknob, car gear shift, tree branch, etc. Usually it is just a minor annoyance (although passersby probably get a kick out of seeing me stop short and jerk back as if yanked by a giant puppeteer) but occasionally  my site gets ripped out or the tubing breaks (which inevitably occurs when I am being an ‘irresponsible diabetic’ and don’t have backup supplies right with me).

Most recently I had a memorable moment with my errant tubing and a farmyard animal. At the petting zoo with my kiddos, I was too busy making sure my 18 month old didn’t experiment with the taste and texture of sheep poop to really be concerned about the goat that was nuzzling my flank. I thought this action was cute if not a little forward, but then I realized that he had acquired a definite target…my pump!  I know my pump has some sort of baby/toddler/child magnetism, and now we know livestock also sees the appeal.  Sadly, the end of this story is pretty predictable.

The goat had moved on from my actual pump, delicately taken my tubing with his teeth and was about to make a run for it to enjoy the delicious insulin infused plastic.  It turned into a bit of a tug of war with said ruminate, with me gently pulling on my tubing to remove it from his mouth without getting bitten, and the goat tenaciously gripping it in its mouth while edging backwards. Anyway, the tubing stretched to an impossibly tiny plastic string before it snapped. Of course I hadn’t brought in my kit with an extra needle and insulin vial, so thus had to make the long pilgrimage back to the car. In 93 degrees. With an upset 3.5 and 1.5 year old who did not want to leave the zoo only 15 minutes after entering.  Sigh.

The good news is that the tug of war DID indeed provide a great deal of hilarity not only to my own offspring, but to the zoo worker (who commented “Didn’t you see the sign that said you shouldn’t bring cell phones or pagers in?” Oooooohhhh….don’t get me started on that one! But that is a post for another day) and entire third grade population of a local elementary school.

I couldn't have made a better lasso if I tried! This incident took place as I was loading the stroller into the minivan.

So what have your experiences been with torn, twisted, and tangled tubing?